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‘Everybody In - Nobody Out!’

NYSNA president Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN on why we need New York Health: "In this country, healthcare is not a public service - it’s a big business."

May 7, 2014 at 8:29 am

Chanting “Everybody in - Nobody out,” NYSNA nurses joined doctors and patients to call on Albany to pass a law guaranteeing healthcare for all New Yorkers.

The bill, New York Health, would create a single-payer insurance system that would cover all New Yorkers. “We know that every other industrialized nation, except ours, has a national healthcare system. That’s because in this country, healthcare is not a public service - it’s a big business,” NYSNA President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, told the crowd of supporters and lawmakers.

Following the rally, organized by Physicians for a National Health Program, NYSNA members attended lobby appointments for face-to-face meetings with lawmakers about healthcare for all.

Fix a broken system

Richard Gottfried, the chair of the Assembly Health Committee and the bill’s lead sponsor, pointed to a broken system that spends “tens of billions of dollars,” annually as nothing more than an unnecessary obstacle to access to care.

A single-payer system would replace private, corporate health insurance with universal coverage — with no corporate control or profit. Rich or poor, young or old — everyone will be in the same boat, with access to the same level of care.

“New York’s patients are still saddled with co-pays and no ability to pay. We don’t need health insurance companies derailing quality healthcare with huge administrative waste,” said Gottfried. ​